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SAW is undeniably the greatest horror franchise ever and this is the first, and the only greatest, entry followed by 6 sequels. SAW is a film which everyone loves to hate, despise, loathe and everything in between and I'm all with them. Wizard of Gore may have played a pivotal role in introducing the so-called torture-porn sub-genre to the masses but, more than 30 years after, SAW can be cited as the film which popularized it and made it a full genre of it's own.
This film bought us one of the best, most recognizable horror icon: Jigsaw. It's also pretty ironic that Jigsaw is shown in full light in the sequels and not this film. The thing separates Jigsaw from the other horror icons is that Jigsaw is more intelligent, smart and is a cancer-ridden patient with an inoperable brain tumor and is forced to be hooked up with multiple IV's. Also, another thing that makes him unique is that unlike the horror icons of the 70's, 80's & 90's, he is more human, at least in physical appearance. The character is well made and the storyline intricate, confusing even. It's solely for people who can stand endless screams and long shots of the victim going through pain and suffering. See, I'm a dedicated SAW fan myself and I pretty know my way in and out and hardly any thing has stumped me. But as for you, if you are a curious first-timer, ask yourself one question: Are you prepared? If you're not, then the first film won't answer any of your questions and you will be left confused and that will lead way to curiosity and, well you know, like they say "curiosity killed the cat". You don't want to end up that way right?
On to the film, this is the only great entry in the franchise like I've said before. Two men are trapped in a bathroom chained to the pipes by their ankles and one has to kill the other before 6:00 or otherwise his family will die. There's a seemingly dead body in-between them and that is Jigsaw. We don't get to know him until the last 5-6 minutes of the movie. The film is mostly run on flashbacks describing his past victims and also has subplots which are very critical to this movie and the whole franchise in general. Cary Elwes as Dr. Lawrence Gordon gives one of the best performances of that year and plays his part very convincingly. Joining him in the bathroom is Leigh Whannell as Adam, the guy who needs to be killed. In the supporting we have Shawnee Smith as Amanda Young and despite her small screen time in this film, would go on to become the most important character in the franchise. An excellent setting, great performances and starts off chillingly to it's blood-stopping last moment. As a stand-alone film, SAW would've been great but would've had lead to too many questions and it's a good thing they came up with rather slightly disappointing sequels but that's all right, they managed to answer many questions.
All in all, watch this only if you're prepared and make sure all the lights in your room are working okay. You don't want them to go out while watching Lawrence cut off his.... ooops!
